humminbird side imaging

[Stickin Slabs]

Hi, everyone. This is the first post I ever made. I usually fish at Ky. lake, but plan on fishing at Green some this year. I was thinking about upgrading to a side imaging depth finder, but don't know much about them. Can you please tell me which one is the best for the money? Where is the best place to mount it? What kind of transducer is better, a transom, trolling motor, or a thru hull? I have a Stratos 219F, and love it. Thanks for the help...

[Wiskers]

Hi, everyone. This is the first post I ever made. I usually fish at Ky. lake, but plan on fishing at Green some this year. I was thinking about upgrading to a side imaging depth finder, but don't know much about them. Can you please tell me which one is the best for the money? Where is the best place to mount it? What kind of transducer is better, a transom, trolling motor, or a thru hull? I have a Stratos 219F, and love it. Thanks for the help...

You're gonna see people on here champion both HB & Lowrance. It's a personal choice.

Dollar wise you're gonna get off cheaper with the Birds. From what I've seen the picture quality is just a little better in the Lowrance but it's hard to beat the HB customer service. If they got 1 thing they can brag on it's that department!

The HB's are also a lot more user friendly! I have a heck of a time with the Lowrance's I have fooled with! They just ain't built with the "Ol'Country Boy in mind! First time I got to fooling with a Low. SS it was like I had set down in the cockpit of the Space Shuttle!

I personally have the Birds. I have a 798 on the bow & a 997 at the console linked together with the Interlink. I can tell ya first hand that the SI on a trolling motor is useless! When you turn the motor it distorts the picture. I put the 798 on the bow for the down Imaging. I didn't know they were gonna come out with the 788HD's with down imaging. I may sell my 798 & go to a 788 on the front.

Now if you have a step on your hull you are gonna have issues with transducer mounting. If you mount above the step you're probably gonna get some dirty water (air bubbles) crossing your transducer. These bubbles tend to cloud the picture. If you have a jack plate I know some who have mounted the transducer to it.

Here's how I mounted mine mounted on my Lowe 180W. Works great & I can run 45 to 50 MPH & never loose bottum.

ifish has the Lowrance. He can tell ya bout them.

[M R Dux]

Welcome! You need to talk to Wiskers, Buffalo13 or rnvinc about Humminbird side-scan units. Cane Pole on the electronics forum is truly the man on them. I'm sure there are others who can chime in.

[rnvinc]

Hi, everyone. This is the first post I ever made. I usually fish at Ky. lake, but plan on fishing at Green some this year. I was thinking about upgrading to a side imaging depth finder, but don't know much about them. Can you please tell me which one is the best for the money? Where is the best place to mount it? What kind of transducer is better, a transom, trolling motor, or a thru hull? I have a Stratos 219F, and love it. Thanks for the help...

Buy the biggest screen you can afford....most prospective SI buyers do not realize the "structure" image size ratio of SI images vs 2D images...

for example...I have the HB 1197 (10 in screen)...a brushpile that shows as the size of a golfball on the 2D images shows as the size of a quarter on the SI image...now take that same brushpile on a 798 (5 in screen) ...that very same brushpile is the size of dime on the 2D image shows as the size of a pea on the SI screen...therfore I say again...buy the biggest screen you can afford......

HB or L is personal choice...both will give you great images...

HB SI has less hardware...head unit / 1 xducer / gps antenna...

Lowrance SI has more hardware...head unit / 2 xducers / LSS-1 module / GPS antenna...

Best place to mount the hardware depends on what you expect to use the SI for...

Bass fishin and lookin for structure with the big motor would lend towards a console (head unit) /transom (xducer) mount..

Trolling and lookin for structure with the trolling motor would lend towards bow (head unit) / trolling motor (xducer) mount...

AS wiskers stated it is somewhat difficult to get good images with the xducer on the TM because the SI xducers are designed to operate in a straight line with the boat path...turning the TM with the Xducer on the TM will skew the images on the screen somewhat...A lot of guys still mount the Xducer on the TM..you just have to turn the TM slowly and learn to interpret the images as you see them...

Give us more info on what/ where you think the SI would be most advantagious to you...I'm sure you'll get lots of help here...

[Stickin Slabs]

Wanted to say thanks, you all have helped a lot!!! I understand it better now. Im going to look for best deal on a HB 1197 right now. Thanks again

[rnvinc]

Wanted to say thanks, you all have helped a lot!!! I understand it better now. Im going to look for best deal on a HB 1197 right now. Thanks again

Don't overlook the 2011 HB 1198c SI...They are supposed to have a faster processor and a brighter screen than the 1197....

If you can find a deal on a 1197...that's great...(I still love my 1197)...

but if the 1197 and the 1198 are going to be about the same price ...I would go with the 1198...

Faster is always better in processor speed...

[Wiskers]

Don't overlook the 2011 HB 1198c SI...They are supposed to have a faster processor and a brighter screen than the 1197....

If you can find a deal on a 1197...that's great...(I still love my 1197)...

but if the 1197 and the 1198 are going to be about the same price ...I would go with the 1198...

Faster is always better in processor speed...

What he said!!!

[Bronson]

My son & I both have the 1197's and love them. It's a timesaver! We both had them put on at the jackplate. Humminbird website will show this for you. If you have any doubts I would recommend an experienced mechanic to put it on for you. I used to love Lowrance but their customer service isn't what it used to be. Humminbird used to be considered the Walmart of electronics but now the are considered top of the line.

The one thing I would caution you about is if you find one at a discounted price, make sure everything is included. You will see deals out there but a lot of them will not include everything and you'll end up paying more. Also buying from someone else at a discounted price may mean you do not get any warranty with it, even if it is considered new out of the box. Just wanted you to know you might want to be on the lookout for good deals that don't turn out to be good deals.

[rnvinc]

My son & I both have the 1197's and love them. It's a timesaver! We both had them put on at the jackplate. Humminbird website will show this for you. If you have any doubts I would recommend an experienced mechanic to put it on for you. I used to love Lowrance but their customer service isn't what it used to be. Humminbird used to be considered the Walmart of electronics but now the are considered top of the line.

The one thing I would caution you about is if you find one at a discounted price, make sure everything is included. You will see deals out there but a lot of them will not include everything and you'll end up paying more. Also buying from someone else at a discounted price may mean you do not get any warranty with it, even if it is considered new out of the box. Just wanted you to know you might want to be on the lookout for good deals that don't turn out to be good deals.

If the unit has CHO in the model number...it means "Control Head Only"...(no xducer)

[Stickin Slabs]

Thanks Bronson, I really appreciate everybody's input. I'm still looking and I'll keep everything you said in mind.